O Come, O Come, Emmanuel - November 26, 2021
Isaiah 7:14 - Therefore the Lord himself will give
you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him
Immanuel.
Today, we pause our study of Matthew to focus on Advent,
which begins this Sunday. We will resume
our study of Matthew in early January. So
today, we begin a series of devotions centered around the scriptures and songs
of Advent and Christmas. Some of them
will be our sacred hymns and overtly Christian songs that we sing each Advent
season. But mixed in will be other
popular songs of the season that will provide us the opportunity to reflect on
our culture from the point of view of scripture. I invite you to sing these songs each day as
a way to practice our Advent virtues of Hope, Love, Joy, and Peace. Because
there are so many Christmas songs, I will be sending a devo Monday through
Saturday (6 days a week instead of 5) until we resume our Matthew study. Merry Christmas!
Today’s hymn is “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.” Of all the songs we sing during this time of
year, this one has roots that reach farther back into history than most all
others. The text of this hymn was
originally written in Latin. We have
found versions of this text dating back to the 800’s and 900’s. The hymn with it’s most famous tune (the one
we sing today) can be traced back to at least 1851. Millions of Christians have sung these
words longing for Christ to come yet again in new ways each Advent season for
hundreds of years now. I have a sense of
the power of that when I sing it these days.
I find it interesting that this song was on most new
Christmas albums in 2020, more than I have ever noticed before. Perhaps the longing for Christ to come in a
meaningful way is stronger this year than has been the case in a long time. Maddie and Tae, a Country Duo, just released
a song called “We Need Christmas (No, It didn’t make our list, but is worth a
listen). Here is the chorus:
We need Christmas now more than
ever
Bring us together
We need Christmas come on December
Help us remember
The joy, the peace and the hope
that love can bring
Oh we need Christmas
I love the line that begins “help
us remember. . .” because that it what I
believe we do each Advent. We re-member
our hope, love, joy, and peace. The
Hebrew understanding of “remember” is more than nostalgia. It is bringing the power of what God did in
the past into the present once again. As
we do that, we prepare ourselves to recognize it God arrives in a new way. Advent means arrival or beginning. I want to be prepared for that. I bet you do too. So lets sing about the Dayspring, the Wisdom
from on High, the Root of Jesse’s tree. . . let’s sing about Emmanuel. . .God
with us!
Question: What are the moments in your life when God
showed up in powerful ways?
Prayer: O Come, O Come Emmanuel. Amen.
Prayer Focus: Pray for the victims of domestic violence
today.
Song: O Come O Come
Emmanuel
No comments:
Post a Comment